alligoat

You'd think that Rolex would have changed the dial at the same time as the movement. Keep asking questions if you're looking to buy. Certainly the watch isn't all original with the 1575 movement in there.

Why not get a good aftermaket tube and a used gen crown? I've had good luck with the wholesaleoutlet990 tubes and then I just pick up a used 703 crown on ebay- I try to get it for $25-40. Rep tubes can be tricky to install since they typically don't have the internal splines for screwing the tube into the case. Sometimes you can screw the tube in with the crown screwed on, then let the loc-tite dry and unscrew the crown later.

Nice job! I agree that the MBW 1680 DW is perfect for the 16800/16660 watches, or even a 16000 DJ. Now you need a set of drilled lugholes!

Rolex uses the same parts on a 16800 and 16610 bezel assembly. If the bezel is smoother on a 16800, that is probably because it's 30 years old and worn. Bezel inserts have also changed stylistically over the years but are still the same basic part size wise- no more tritium peartls and different font on the 4's for instance. The case of the 16610 changed when it went form lugholes- 16610, to no lugholes, 16610T. And rehaut engraving came in around 2008 or 9 on the T case.

Dizzy is right on this and the old MBW 1680 cases are marked 5513. The MBW 1680 dial is 26.2mm and a 5513 is around 26.0mm so it will fit in the case. Just install a T-19 and you're good to go. Oh, and you'll need a better pearl in the MBW insert- those opaque white pearls are a dead give away.

Plug style is what you want. Jules Borel or Ofrei have them, or you can find them at machine shop supply stores for $8-10. Google is your friend.

I don't know if it's a V2 3135, but it has the improved clone movement with a better stem. The watch looks decent to me- dial is ok in the pic and of course the cgs could use a trim, but you'd really have to fork over the moula to find out. And like I said, what else is out there

Beautiful watch cusco! There's always something you can do to make it better, but you've already got yourself to 99%. Now it's time to enjoy.

Basically what Stilty's ring did was lower the stem by elevating the dial. Sounds like that's what PBdad did by shimming the DW and having a taller canon pinion.

It's too tight- happens all the time. Start sanding or get another bezel.

OK, first look and the Sean tube doesn't appear to be seated in the case- you could countersink a hole in the case so that the tube sits in the case better. But since you're trying to use a gen tube, better to tap the hole like rsh said. And you might still need to countersink a hole so that the gen tube sits in there better. Or maybe the stem is too long and your watchmaker just needs to trim it a little- that's an easy fix. If you gen bezel assembly isn't going together, you can try sanding the inside of the bezel. It's a slow and tedious job. Or you could sand the 'bezel' edge on the retaining ring. Either way it's slow and you have to keep test fitting as you go along. With one end link not fitting, you could try drilling it a wee bit larger- maybe towards the case- so that the 2mm springbar will fit in there. Do it carefully or find a decent modder to help.

Looking good. I'm surprised how you were able to fit a 2824-2 in there with only a rafflestime ring. The 2836-2 is an easy fit and I've seen people use the 2824-2 with a Stilty ring, but this is the first time for a 2824-2 with a raffles ring. I certainly woudn't worry about the DW, if Rolex were to service a 3035 these days and replace the DW, it would be with the closed 6/9. So 555 end links are correct for the 16000 case- at least the 455B rep links have been working for me all this time!

The best rep in the past was the BK/WM9 YM, but I don't know if it's available anymore. So the Puretime might be your only choice at this time.

Looks good to me. With a new dial and hands, you should be good to go til the next time it needs to be serviced.

I looked at that dial for a long time. I like the inverted '6' on the hour subdial and the small markers at 3-6-9. The print is good except that it is missing some from the 'P' in Superlative and the 'O' in Cosmograph. The arabic hour markers are also missing a good amount of the black paint. The bezel has wear but no sign of being gold plated. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have an independent watchmaker look at the movement- going to a Rolex dealer could be a disappointment although if it's a rep, they probably wouldn't confiscate it, but who knows.

Model 16523- older automatic Daytona with the running seconds at 9.

I'm with dluddy and By-Tor on this. In it's 22+ year run it's even morphed into a better watch- no lugholes, super luminova dial and hands, better end pieces on the bracelet and an improved mainspring. Besides, the early R, L, E and X serials are becoming collector's pieces in their own right. And we're lucky because we finally have great reps of this iconoc piece.

Yuck, D320840 is one of the oldest chinese SNs out there for the old line of 16610 reps that weren't worth a darn. That's not to say things haven't changed, but like E says, show us the bezel construction. Typically these would house the 2836, the asian clone 2836, or the DG2813 or similar a21j movement. I wouldn't get your hopes up too much.

+1 This is the cheap old CN 1680- no telling how long the a21j movement will run, dial is too big at 29mm so you can't replace it w/ a better dial which would be 26.5mm. You could find a better pearl for the insert, age the dial and the case and wear it til it craps out, but moving on is really your best bet.

Nice job CT. But I do think a better minute hand is in order. Trimming/slimming the lugs and the outside edges of the cgs also wouldn't hurt. Bracelets are a personal choice I guess. I wear my gen 8.1 million on an MBW 93150 with gen 593s and a gen clasp. If you can find a good rep 93150, the quality is comparable to a gen, IMO. My gen 93150 was pretty stretched out so I put it on my 16800 franken. It used to be you could pick up a used gen 93150 for $400-500 three to four years ago- now days you're more likely to pay $600. Here's my 8.1 mill- it went thru the Rolex spa around 1998 or so and has a tritium marked dial and hands which are lumed with luminova- still glow well at night! My 7.2 million matte dial has thicker lugs, less polished. It's on the left and the watch on the right is my 16800 franken in a noob case with lugholes drilled. With these older 16800s, I guess it's whatever you want to do- they're 30 yr old watches so you have to figure some maintenance has been done along the way. Rolex wouldn't hesitate to put a new 'Swiss Made' dial and hands in there and a new AR'd crystal at this point- they're 100% gen Rolex parts so they don't care! BTW, I do like that AR'd crystal, nice job!

Since you've got a 3035 in there Ylfig, I would work on a correct dial- like a relumed tritium dial and hands and call it a 16800. Or you could even go with the Yuki 16800 matte dial and hands. Swapping to a ST3035 case isn't going to really be any better than the case you have right now. Now if you were to happen upon a used gen 16800 case, that would be a different matter.

You know Ylfig, if that's a WM9 case or TW best, I'd stick with what you've got- it's got lugholes which look fine and the 'Swiss Made' dial is later anyway. Even if you put a tritium dial in there, you could call it an early 16610- I've seen the earliest 16610s with the open 6/9 datewheels like the 16800s- maybe ran for a year or so and Rolex changed to the closed 6/9s. Now days even a replacement DW for a 3035 movt has closed 6/9s. And a 3035 DW turns one direction and the 3135 goes the other.

That's a great looking watch E! Congrats. Now i need to get going on mine and finsih it (same ST3035 case) @Dizzy- as you can see, Ephry used the 16800 case- rehaut is decent- along the lines of the old model noobmariner subs, but with a gen-like bezel assembly and a Clark's crystal, the look is spot on to a gen- like the Euros, WM9 and TW best.

Check with jmb, he can drill lugholes.

good answer, No. 1's SELs are better!